Batwoman and Lark spent the next hour doing reconnaissance on the warehouse. Batwoman had been keeping her eye on this place for a few nights, but security could change at any moment. Intel was key to a successful operation. So for the first hour, they watched, waited, timed the patrol routes and made sure to note every detail. Only when Batwoman was satisfied, did they make their move to infiltrate the warehouse.
Lark slipped into the warehouse through the window on the roof and landed silently on the catwalks below. He kept his eyes fixed on the thugs below, but made sure to note the position of the children; they were kept in cages in the back room and most of them looked malnourished and scared. Lark seethed with anger at the sight of them, but he kept it in check for the moment. He and Batwoman had these fuckers to deal with first.
More than anything, Lark hated people who abused children. He'd seen more than his fair share growing up on the streets, but it never failed to piss him off. He'd been on the receiving end a few times himself, which brought him to the second thing he hated; bullies. Gotham City had far more than its fair share of those, and some of them chose to hide behind a badge. Men like Gordon, and to some extent, Bullock, were amongst the few good men on the force. Too many thugs were permitted to carry badges though.
"Lark to Batwoman. Come in Batwoman," Lark whispered over the comm device in his ear.
"Batwoman here. Are you in position, Lark?" she asked. Lark took one final glance at his surroundings and made sure to memorize as many details as possible.
"I am in position. Awaiting your orders," Lark replied, followed by a pause, and then "just say the word, so we can beat these fuckers down." There was a brief silence from Batwoman's end. Lark stared intently at the thugs as the ring's leaders, presumably, chatted around a table and drank beer. He felt bile rise in his throat; anyone who treated children like this, surely deserved more than a beat down…
"Get ready to move. I'm getting a closer look at their weaponry…" Batwoman replied. Lark's finger twitched on his Tactical Stun Baton but he held his position and waited…albeit impatiently. "I see a couple of sub-machine guns…a shotgun…various melee weapons…nothing we can't handle.
"Alright, let's move then," Lark replied quickly.
"No. Hold your position. We don't want to jump into this half-cocked," Batwoman replied. Lark clenched his teeth and his fists; he hated waiting around, especially when there were children in danger down there. But he held his position. For now. "Alright, I'll draw their fire. I want you to flank them when I have their attention. Understood?" she asked. Lark breathed a sigh of relief; finally, some action!
"Understood," Lark replied. He waited some more, a little more patiently this time because at least now they were making a move. And so he waited, watching carefully for his moment to jump down and join the fray. He watched as Batwoman dropped down through the glass on the roof, and onto their table. Almost the moment she landed, her fists and feet started swinging. The guards rushed in from outside to take her out, but little did they know, she had backup.
Once she had successfully drawn their attention, Lark picked his moment to jump in. Batwoman was currently hunkered down behind a stack of crates while the thugs rained gunfire on them. They thought she was helpless, trapped, but nothing could've been further from the truth. She set a trap for them, and it was about to spring.
Lark raced across the catwalks and flipped over the railing to the top of the crates below. He threw several mini smoke grenades in the thugs' direction while still in mid air, landing just as they went off. With their attention diverted to the smoke now rising around them, Lark made his move.
Lark dived into combat, covered by the smoke, that he could easily see through thanks to the lenses and different vision types in them. Lark moved from one target to the next. He took them out, one by one, with quick strikes; a combination of punches, kicks, and stun baton attacks.
Some of the thugs proved a little smarter than average, however, because they ran out of the smoke to avoid being taken by surprise, and started spraying bullets into the smoke, hoping to hit something.
That forced Batwoman and Lark to take cover until it was over but they could count shots, and knew how many bullets their guns had. And with the way they were just spraying gun fire in the area, it was only a matter of minutes before the tell tale click of an empty gun.
Lark and Batwoman jumped out of cover, each throwing a birdarang and a batarang respectively, at the thugs and knocking their guns out of their hands. Before they had a chance to react to the situation, Lark and Batwoman delivered one-two punches and knocked them out out cold.
They could hear more approaching, so after exchanging a quick look, they dived back into the shadows to prepare and ambush for the rest of them. As the heavily armed thugs stormed the warehouse, two dozen or so of them by count, Batwoman and Lark dived out of the shadows and started taking them out, one by one. Lark glanced back and caught one of the guys making a bolt for it.
"I've got this one!" Lark called, giving chase.
"Lark!" Batwoman called after him, grunting when one of the thugs managed to land a blow. She glared at the thug that managed it, then as he threw another punch, she caught his arm, wrenched him forward, and delivered an elbow to the face.
As the fleeing thug rounded the corner, Lark gave chase, throwing a bolas from his utility belt at the man's legs. The man let out a yelp of surprise as the bolas wrapped around his ankles and tripped him up. Lark grinned as he casually approached the thug with his stun baton slung over his shoulder.
"Nice try dirt bag, but you're not going anywhere," Lark taunted, kicking the guy over on his back with his foot. The man groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. Lark gasped, eyes widening when he saw who it was. "You," Lark growled, jaw working and fists clenching. The man swung his legs at Lark's, catching the teen off guard, then quickly freed his legs. He got to his feet and attempted to run, but Lark jumped back up and pursued him.
Lark threw a birdarang at the guy and caught him in the back of the leg, right behind the knee. The man yelped in pain and fell to his keens, and as Lark caught up to him, he punched him in the back of his head. The man yelped again and fell to the ground face down.
"I'm not done with you yet," Lark snarled. He kicked the man over onto his back, then sat on his chest and rained a few punches down on his face. "I hate you," Lark growled, hitting him again and again while the man desperately tried to stop him.
"Please stop!" the man cried out. Lark's voice wavered, weighted down with emotion as he shouted at the man.
"Stop?! Like I asked you-begged you-every night?!" Lark snarled, viciously kicking him in the ribs. "Fuck you! I hate you!" Lark snarled, punching the man over and over.
"Lark, stand down!" Batwoman shouted, rushing up from behind him and hauling him off of the man. Lark struggled against her but managed to land a final, vicious kick to his head. The man's head slammed off the concrete, knocking him out cold. "Lark!" Batwoman shouted. Lark stumbled backward and shook his head, clenching his fists as he glared down at the unconscious scum bag on the ground. "What has gotten into you?!" Batwoman demanded to know.
Lark just stood there, silently seething. His fists were clenched at his sides as he glared down at the man. He looked up at Batwoman and then looked away.
"Hey, I asked you a question!"
Lark didn't answer and instead, stormed off. He pulled out a grappling gun and pulled himself up to the roof of the building across the way. Batwoman watched him go, sorely tempted to follow, but someone needed to stay and see to these scum bags, and to free the children. But she glanced down at the man that Lark had just beaten; whoever he was, he had to have been someone the boy knew, and not in a good way. She'd never seen him go off like that before.
Batwoman knelt down beside the man to check his pulse; he was alive, fortunately. She didn't bother tying him up like the rest though. He'd be out for a long while yet. In the meantime, she contacted the GCPD and let them know about the trafficking ring, then went back inside the warehouse to free the children. With that done, she took her leave. She and Lark needed to have a discussion.
A thin sheen of sweat covered Jason's body as he threw a series of punches at the punching bag. He was in the 'Bat Cave', as he'd come to call it, above the loft and was doing some exercises to blow off steam. He had his earphones on and was listening to some rock music.
It was late, or early, depending on how you looked at it, and he knew he should've been in bed. He couldn't sleep thought, as he was still worked up from the mission. And from running into a figure from his past. The man he'd beaten to a bloody pulp earlier? His name was Daniel Lewis, or as Jason knew him, "Uncle Lewis". There was no relation, he was just a "friend" (more like supplier) of his fathers, and also a complete and utter scum bag.
On the surface, he seemed like your typical dirt bag. He soled drugs during the day, jacked cars, picked pockets, pretty standard stuff for Gotham City. But at night, he'd pimp out women and children, when he wasn't "enjoying" them himself. After his father was shipped off to Blackgate, and his mother died "Uncle Lewis" saw an opportunity. Jason had never liked that man and he couldn't quite place his finger on why, at the time.
Living with him proved no different than living with his parents, at first. He had to "earn his keep" of course, which usually involved stealing or jacking car parts. But later on, when the man decided he he could use Jason to rake in even more cash…well, that only lasted a month before Jason left. Living on the streets on his own was better than living with that…thing.
Jason threw another few punches and kicks, still hopped up on a combination of adrenaline and anger, when Batwoman entered the room. He glanced, briefly, in her direction, then finished up with with the punching bag. He took a deep breath and wiped his brow with a towel he'd set down on a chair nearby, then grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it down until it was gone.
"We need to talk," Kate said sternly as she removed her cowl. Jason didn't hear her because of his headphone, so she snatched them away, ignoring the teen's protests.
"What?" Jason snapped angrily as he turned his music off. He quickly flashing an apologetic look, because he didn't really mean to snap at her. Kate frowned at him, maintaining that stern look as she placed her hands on her hips.
"What happened out there tonight?" Kate asked. Jason flinched slightly under her stern gaze, but otherwise, betrayed no emotion. "Don't give me that stoic act, Jason. I can read body language, remember? You're pissed and I know it," Kate added in before Jason could answer. Jason frowned but didn't answer and instead retreated across the room.
"Nothing happened. I just…lost my cool," he shot back over his shoulder. Kate jogged after him and grabbed his shoulder, turning him around and forcing him to look at her.
"Don't walk away from me, Jason. And don't lie to me. You didn't just lose your cool. I know you have anger issues, and we've been working on them, but that? That was something else," Kate snapped, pointing toward the exit on the opposite side. Jason's frown faded, his expression blanking for a few moments before turning almost…sad. Kate's own expression faded soon after. She sighed and placed her hands on Jason's shoulders. "Talk to me, Jason. What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Jason replied softly, turning and walking away from her. Anyone else would have missed it, but Kate heard it; it was the faintest thing, barely noticeable, but she heard a slight waver in his voice.
"I'm going to have to bench you," she said. Jason spun around and flashed a look of disbelief.
"What?! Why?! Because of one stupid mistake?!" Jason shouted, throwing his arms out angrily.
"It wasn't just one stupid mistake, Jason! That man is in the hospital with a serious concussion! He'll pull through, but you could've killed him!" Kate shouted back. Jason flinched a bit at her words. He'd almost killed that guy? He didn't care if he died, the man was a scum bag, and yet…
"I didn't realize I had to prop up some pillows for him, before I took him down," Jason said coldly, fists clenching at his sides. Kate stared at him as if she were looking at a different person; the sweet, happy boy she'd brought home and had come to love like a son, was gone. Replaced by whoever this was. It became clear then, that that man had meant something to Jason; something bad, something dark.
"You're benched, Jason. And I want you to talk to someone about these…issues you're having that you won't talk to me about," Kate said to him. Jason stared at her in disbelief.
"What?! But there's nothing to talk about! The guy-"
"-is a scum bag, yes. So you keep saying. But there's more to it, and until I'm sure you won't snap like this again, you're out," Kate cut in, speaking with finality as she moved toward the lockers to change out of her Batwoman gear. Jason cursed under his breath and stormed out of the room, back down to the loft.
It was late at night and early in the morning and Jason was fast asleep in his bedroom. Kate was up late digging into Jason's past, or rather those who had been around him before she adopted him. She kicked herself for not having done her research beforehand, back when she first took him in. Bruce would have done it. But at the time, she was more concerned with helping him, than with his past.
Regardless, she needed answers now, as to why he had such a violent reaction to that man. She continued her search, digging through everyone in and around his family and found the man from the warehouse. To say she was shocked as what she learned, would undersell it. Daniel Lewis was apparently a pervert who ran a sex trafficking ring down in the Bowery. He'd always gotten off on technicalities or a lack of evidence. But she discovered that he ran with Jason's father for a while, Willis Todd, and all the pieces fell into place.
She didn't have much time to process the new information, however. A Breaking News report flashed across the TV and that drew her attention; it was about the thugs they'd busted at the child trafficking ring earlier; every single one of them was dead, including Daniel Lewis. That was not a coincidence…